54. Monghwanhyang (1)
The territory of the succubi.
The dream realm, Monghwanhyang.
This place was a world within dreams, an ideal realm that only those with desire could find. At least, that was true for men.
"First-time customer, nya!"
"Indeed. It's been a while since we've had a new one…"
"Why aren't you adding nya to your speech? Want to get punished, nya?"
"I'm so sorry, bong!"
A succubus in a rabbit costume (or not) and a succubus in a cat costume (or not) began bickering with each other.
Evan swallowed hard as he watched the two succubi fighting. More precisely, he watched their breasts shaking like animals as they scuffled, and swallowed.
The two, who had been fighting as if to bite each other, turned their heads the moment they heard Evan's swallow, and their eyes began to sparkle.
"—Heee, customer. First-timer, nya?"
"Hehehe—yes. At this age, a new customer means someone who couldn't resist their lust and came looking for a succubus, right? Where did you find the magic circle, bong?"
"…Magic circle?"
"Yes! The cheap magic circles written in shoddy magic books sold in back alleys and marketplaces, bong-bong!"
Evan, whose gaze had been drawn to the up-and-down movements of the succubus in the bunny girl outfit, finally snapped back to his senses and shook his head.
"I didn't draw anything like that…"
"Eh—? Customer, you can't enter here without a magic circle, bong?"
"That's right, nya! Don't be embarrassed, nya! Would you be more embarrassed than us wearing these clothes and adding these suffixes, nya?"
Hearing the cat succubus's words—she wore nothing but large cat paws, ears, and a tail—Evan nodded, agreeing that was true. Even if they found out something about him, it wouldn't be more embarrassing than wearing those outfits and going nya-nya bong-bong.
"I, I got a business card. I used that…"
"…Business card?"
"You just said business card, nya?"
"…? Yes."
As soon as Evan finished speaking, the two succubi immediately buried their faces in the ground in apology.
"—I'm so sorry, nya! Please forgive us just once, nya!"
"I-I-I'm so sorry! We didn't know you were a VIP customer and treated you like this…! P-Please just spare our lives…!"
"…No, what did I do?"
"N-Nya—q-quickly find out who gave you the business card, nya…!"
"Y-Yes, just a moment. Let me see. The last time I distributed business cards was—"
"My customer."
A voice so seductive it was like licking the brain directly. Hearing that voice, Evan felt a chill run down his spine and turned his head.
There stood Penelope, her violet hair—between pink and purple—rippling, wearing a seductive smile.
Meeting Evan's gaze, Penelope curled the corners of her lips seductively and spoke.
"It's been a while. M-a-s-t-e-r."
Hearing that voice, Evan finally realized why he had come to this place.
He couldn't forget that voice, that body.
There were plenty of beauties of considerable caliber around Evan, but none could compare to a succubus who seduced transcendent beings purely with sexual charm.
"…It's been a while. Miss Penelope."
"Huhu, you don't have to speak so stiffly. You came looking for me because you couldn't forget me, right?"
Click-clack. Click-clack.
A maid in heels approached.
Compared to the bunny girl succubus or the cat succubus in front of her, she could be said to be fully covered—yet paradoxically, she was the most provocative person in this place. At least, that was what Evan felt.
"Come now—let's go, Master."
And so, Evan was carried off by Penelope.
The two succubi who had greeted him sighed with a mix of relief and regret, wishing Evan a good rest.
Surprisingly, there were people in the streets of Monghwanhyang who were not succubi. As Evan was carried in Penelope's arms through the streets, he was shocked to see people openly fondling succubi on the street.
'Is this really okay…? On the street?'
By his standards, it was something that should never be done, but everyone who came here seemed to do similar things without a second thought. Only then did Evan realize he had come to a place he shouldn't have, a place where his mind might get corrupted. Cold sweat began to trickle down his spine.
"You shouldn't stare too much, Master."
Penelope noticed Evan glancing around and subtly blocked his line of sight.
"Some customers enjoy being shown, but others get angry when asked what you're looking at."
"…While behaving like that on the street? That's, that's—showing off, isn't it?"
"It is showing off, but you shouldn't stare too openly. It's an unspoken rule."
Wanting to show but not wanting to be seen. Evan felt a sour mood at this contradictory rule and carefully turned his head away.
There were enormous men with arms thicker than Evan's waist carrying women in their arms as they walked, men in robes walking around with a succubus, and even women dressed similarly to succubi walking around together.
The distinction between succubi and non-succubi was very simple. The non-succubi had their faces hidden.
"Faces…"
"To protect our customers' privacy, all faces are blurred."
"Mine too?"
"Yes—that's right. Here, no one can see each other's faces. It would be embarrassing for any Master to be found out for coming to a place like this."
Seeing Penelope chuckle, Evan broke free from her grasp and stepped onto the ground of Monghwanhyang on his own feet. If faces couldn't be seen, there was nothing to worry about. He could walk confidently, proudly.
"—Aha. Admirable, Master."
"Miss Penelope. I have one question."
"What is it, Master?"
"All those people… they're all transcendent beings, right?"
Evan pointed at the people walking around the streets. The man with arms thicker than his waist, the white-haired old man with a sharp, blade-like aura, and the woman he had seen earlier. They all exuded an extraordinary presence. Evan had seen such people from outside as well—from transcendent beings like the Spear King and Tiger Ryung.
"Amazing. Master. You can tell that too?"
"I can tell roughly just by how they walk. Besides, this place… it's not just for relieving lust, is it?"
Succubi gathered qi from everyone in the world. The succubus he met at the entrance had said that magic circles to come to their place could be found in cheap magic books sold in back alleys and marketplaces. But he realized there were far too few people for that. If magic circles were that widely distributed and easily obtainable, there should have been ten times more people here.
But the number of people Evan could see on the streets was so few they could be counted on two hands, and the fact that all of them were transcendent beings meant—
"—We fulfill all desires."
Penelope answered with a smile.
"Any desire whatsoever."
Then she glanced at the transcendent beings walking on the streets.
"For our VIP customers, it's not just those who come with accumulated lust… there are customers who come for more primal reasons."
"More primal?"
"Violence."
More precisely.
"Meeting others of similar strength."
Transcendent beings were rare. Very rare.
After reaching a certain level, you couldn't even experience a proper fight. It was difficult to meet someone of similar level in the first place, and even if you did, various political issues and the fear of death held them back from fighting.
What if there was a space where you could fight freely without such worries, and be reborn no matter how many times you died?
"Fight as much as you want, and once that's resolved, you can satisfy yourself with us—."
Penelope elegantly lifted her skirt and bowed.
"This is a place where all your desires can be fulfilled."
The dream realm.
"Monghwanhyang, after all."
A dim corridor of the royal castle.
Carnelly, holding a single candle, crossed the corridor and arrived in front of Evan's room. She took a light breath.
'Phew, phew—ha, I can do this…!'
She had decided to consummate with Evan today. Since Evan was a man after all, she planned to push forward with force and create a fait accompli.
Princess Elenoa had said that men, once a child was born, became completely helpless and obedient. There was testimony that every playboy she had seen behaved that way.
Then Evan would be the same.
'I-I can't be late.'
The reason she had decided to act like this was because of the other women. After seeing Saya and Princess Elenoa's actions, she couldn't stay still anymore. If she stayed still like this, she would lose Evan to others, so rather than regretting it later, she would grab him by force.
"E-Evan?"
Knock-knock. Carnelly knocked on the door and, realizing there was no answer, carefully opened it. She picked the locked door with alchemy tools.
Carnelly entered the room carefully. The moment she turned off the lantern she was holding and approached the bed, the clouds outside the window parted and moonlight brightly illuminated the room.
'Ugh…!'
Evan was sleeping with what looked like a very happy expression.
Was he having a good dream?
…She couldn't bring herself to wake him.
"E-Evan…"
After pacing around Evan's bed for a long time, Carnelly stole one of Evan's precious things and fled the room.
'He said faces can't be seen, right?'
In the middle of the street, Evan approached a burly man who was openly fondling a succubus's breasts, recalling the fact he had learned from Penelope.
The man seemed to notice Evan's approach and turned his head to look down at him, as if asking what was going on.
Evan shouted at the man who had met his gaze.
"You pig-like bastard. Get out of the way!"
"…What?"
"What, if you're itching, let's have a match!"
Swish—The burly man stood up. He had been standing, but his body swelled to twice, three times its size, as if he had deliberately folded himself.
Looking at the burly man who was even bigger than Evan had thought, he cautiously turned to look at Penelope.
'…Faces really can't be seen, right?'